The Point Loma High School (PLHS) Pointers stayed in the game and played hard all four quarters Saturday, but were no match for the powerful visitors from Sacramento. Mirroring a college football road-trip schedule, members of the Granite Bay High School squad boarded an airplane Friday, bused to PLHS for a walkthrough in the afternoon and flew home after the Saturday afternoon game. It seems too bad the San Diego State University (SDSU) Aztecs were away. The CIF-Section defending champions from Sacramento might even have beaten SDSU in the evening to wrap up their weekend. “We always want to schedule tough teams for our non-league games,” said PLHS head football coach Mike Hastings. “You can’t say we shy away from anybody. They came down here. They are fundamentally a very good football team; well-coached and disciplined. There’s a reason they are ranked in the top 25 in California.” Unlike the previous week against Mira Mesa High School, the PLHS squad seemed cohesive and composed, even when mistakes were made. The players and coaches had high spirits and were positive. It’s sometimes easy for emotions to get the best of players in these kinds of game situations, but the staff should be credited for reining in the egos and making sure that the kids realize that every game is a learning experience. “We had a good week in practice,” Hastings said. “A lot of young kids stepped into roles they hadn’t before; kids like (running back) Zach Gemmill stepped in a did a great job. I’m proud of our effort. They went hard for four quarters and did their best.” With star running back Leslie Rogers out for disciplinary reasons, Gemmill — a junior — was given his first start of his varsity career in the running back position. He made the most of it, spinning past and through defenders all afternoon, surprising players and spectators alike, many of whom made comments about Gemmill’s previously unknown abilities. “I did my best, ran as hard as I could,” said Gemmill. “It felt really good to be out there. We are still coming together as a team, getting better each week.” When junior wide receiver Davis Callejon scored the Pointers’ sole touchdown on an 11-yard pass in the fourth quarter, the team and coaches congratulated him as if the Pointers were still contending for the win. Seeing the coaches on the field giving high-fives put the game in perspective for the players. “I felt like our team was falling apart there in the second half,” said Gemmill. “We just couldn’t put together a good drive and we let them score 14 points real quick. We gotta get it together and come back hard in two weeks. We need to get into the second level, break through that defensive line more and have more room for the running backs to get going.” The team is healthy and will be hungry to show how much it have learned from the extremely tough non-league schedule. League play begins at Mission Bay High School on Friday, Oct. 17 at 3 p.m. Hastings is already preparing. “I am proud of our effort,” Hastings said. “We came out a played hard. We just aren’t quite there yet. This game (Saturday) will teach us a lot of lessons. We can learn a lot from it, and now we are 0-0 in league and we need to be ready for that.”